Ofcom has been urged to take action against a television channel on which a convicted terrorist said a suicide bombing which killed civilians was “God’s destiny”.
Al-Hiwar TV has also given a platform to a guest who claimed Israel was to blame for the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green earlier this year.
The channel broadcasts on YouTube and holds a licence with Ofcom, which claims it is unable to restrict Al-Hiwar output under current rules.
Jewish leaders and politicians have urged any “loophole” to be closed so the regulator has the powers to act.
Al-Hiwar TV has 6.4 million followers on Facebook and 1.9 million subscribers on YouTube.
In a broadcast on March 30, the station’s co-founder and chairman Azzam Tamimi spoke to Othman Bilal, who was convicted in Israel as a terrorist for his part in suicide bombings in 1995.
In one segment Bilal describes those involved as “martyrs”, including Labib Azem, who was responsible for the deaths of six civilians.
Bilal also talked about “God’s destiny” enabling his part in the atrocity carried out by suicide bomber Sufyan Jabarin, in which she killed five civilians on a bus in the Ramat Eshkol area of east Jerusalem.
Recalling how he had been arrested but still succeed in helping the attack, Bilal said: “During the crucial hours, it seems it was God's destiny, praise Him. He willed that we went off the monitoring radar during that period, and we succeeded then in delivering explosives ready to be detonated.”
He added: “The operation succeeded while we were in detention.”
In another discussion broadcast on April 6, Bilal and Tamimi discussed the massacre of 1,200 men, women and children carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Bilal said: “A guy came in and told me there was a war. I tuned in and there was a huge barrage. He told me: ‘The Jihad fighters are in Sderot.’”
Mr Tamimi responded: “Like a fantasy.”
The text accompanying the interview on YouTube refers to the attacks as the “blessed Al-Aqsa Flood”.
Bilal and Mr Tamimi described the Oct 7 terrorists as individuals who “struggle for the sake of freedom”.
The day after the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green in April, guests on the Arab-language channel claimed that Israel was to blame for the attack.
One argued that the incident was not antisemitic but an act of opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza and that the Jewish state bore “the lion’s share” of responsibility for what happened.
A guest told the channel: “This is not antisemitism but rather an expression of his [the attacker’s] rejection of the Israeli attacks against the Palestinian people.”
On its Facebook page Al-Hiwar Channel describes itself as an Arab media service and “a platform to promote the values of tolerance, democracy, and respect for freedoms and human rights”.
Its YouTube channel proclaims its “mission is to give everyone a voice and show them the world”, adding “the world is a better place when we listen, share and build community through our stories”.
The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera), which campaigns for a fair representation of Israel in the media, condemned the airing of extremist views without challenge.
A spokesperson said: “The only criterion by which Tamimi and Bilal appeared to assess the targeting and killing of Israeli Jewish civilians – whether through the method of suicide bombing for which Bilal was convicted, or by other means – was its perceived effectiveness in advancing the Palestinian cause.
“At no point was the legitimacy of deliberately attacking civilians itself meaningfully challenged. It is precisely this normalisation of violence against unarmed people that lies at the heart of the serious regulatory and legal concerns raised by Al-Hiwar’s broadcast.
“As for Ofcom’s responsibility for addressing such content, the clearest evidence that Al-Hiwar remained within its remit until last week was found on Ofcom’s own website, where the channel was still listed among those about which viewers could submit complaints.”
The Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) urged the authorities to take action.
A JLC Spokesperson said: "It is deeply troubling that channels are permitted to disseminate content which we assess to be both antisemitic and supportive of terrorist groups. They have done so without inhibition and with impunity, as was the case with the pro-Iranian regime LuaLua TV and now Al-Hiwar.
“Ofcom must not allow online content to continue to be a loophole that extremists can exploit. If existing regulations prevent Ofcom from taking action, the government should urgently consider whether the law needs to change.
“In the wake of violent and deadly attacks against the Jewish community, urgent action must now be taken."
Shadow minister for Culture Media and Sport Nigel Huddleston said: “The allegations surrounding Al-Hiwar’s content on YouTube are extremely worrying and highlight a weakness in the current regulatory framework.
“Broadcasters operating under an Ofcom licence are expected to comply with clear standards, yet parts of the online world remain far less effectively regulated.
“If content that appears to promote antisemitism or hatred can be distributed online without effective oversight, we need to look carefully at how that gap can be addressed.
“Platforms such as YouTube also have a responsibility to enforce their own policies and ensure they are not promoting or amplifying hate speech.”
An Ofcom spokesperson said: “Our broadcasting rules serve to protect audiences and we take broadcasters’ compliance with these rules seriously.
“Al-Hiwar stopped broadcasting in the UK in 2023, and prior to that, we twice found it in breach our rules. Our Broadcasting Code does not apply to its YouTube channel."
The regulator added any changes to its content standards duties are “a matter for Government and Parliament”.
Al-Hiwar TV, YouTube and the Department for Science Innovation and Technology which considers matters linked to the online safety act have been approached for comment.
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